There are remedies for ending road accidents

Jan 08, 2002

Traffic police should not treat boda boda drivers with kids gloves, they must comply with traffic regulations as do the motorists. Presently they do not obey “no right turn” sign posts

By Yashwant D SidpraI congratulate you for initiating a campaign for Road Safety Awareness in memory of four sports journalists who died in a tragic car crash in August last year.In my view, it is also very important to visit the existing Traffic and road safety Act 1970 regarding driving schools and driving permits, vehicle road worthiness, road signs, road lighting, court procedures and penalties. More so we need to look at the infrastructure and manpower capacity for its efficient implementation and improvement in the existing laws due to rise in human population, different types of vehicles for domestic and commercial use, present road capacity by way of loading and density of traffic.These are some of the long term recommendations I have though of for minimising road accidents.Vehicle WorthinessAll driving school vehicles and their company status should be re-examined and legally registered etc.Driving schools and their learners should have adequate insurance cover. Licensed Driving Teachers’ licenses should be verified, and tested for complete knowledge of road signs, traffic laws and etiquette.Any private person teaching must carry an L plate and his vehicle should be tested for road worthiness. And when applying for a driving license he must have authority from a driving school, after having attended at least two or three lessons on practical driving as well as knowledge of road signs and so on.No person including driving school should carry passengers while giving driving lessons.All commercial vehicles including matatus must carry names of the owner or company with address on left, right and rear side of the vehicle in eligible print. Presently matatus do not have names of owners stuck on them like other commercial vehicles.All vehicles including motor cycle number plates should be distinctively readable.The drivers and conductors of commuting passenger vehicles especially matatus and coaches should have their terms of employment examined. Vehicle owners should possess adequate third party insurance and or comprehensive insurance to cover all passengers. The existing law only provides for sh1,000,000m only for third party cover per person. These insurance covers should only be from those companies recognised by the Ministry of Works and Transport or relevant authorities.The driver and conductor must be charged and convicted for accepting more passenger than allowed by law in the particular vehicle. There should be a notice inside the vehicle for number of passengers allowed into the vehicle. Passengers should not be allowed to carry oversized heavy hand luggage on their laps or place it along passages, thus obstructing free movement of passengers.In fact there should be some regulation regarding maximum weight and number of pieces a passenger can carry on a particular vehicle.Commercial passenger vehicles must carry adequate safety aid like fire extinguishers, first aid boxes and so on, to meet emergencies. If possible the employer should give drivers mobile phones to be used in emergencies to contact car owners, hospitals, police and so on.All persons applying for driving permits must also undergo medical test like in other countries and it should be a must for passenger commuter vehicle drivers and conductors. These drivers should only be given driving permits for one year and must provide fresh medical tests from authorised medical practitioners registered with police, if they are to be renewed.In the event of accidents both the driver, conductor and owner of the car should be responsible jointly. The press should in case of fatal accidents be able to print the name of the owner of the vehicle and vehicle number as well as the name of the driver. This will make the owner conscious about the accident and the public will know the owner and follow up any claims in court.The press should report about what action the police took.There should be a special court established only to deal with traffic offences. The press should attend to traffic cases in court and enlighten the public on the matters in details. Representatives from law council if possible and some law firms should attend to cases and help the victims to obtain compensation.Foreigners intending to stay in the country more than three months and have interest to work must apply for local driving license and go through a proper test like in other countries even though he may be holding international driving licenses.Traffic jam remedyLoading and offloading of goods in vehicles more than a half ton capacity should be done before 7.30 am, Monday to Friday and Saturday 7.30 am and after 2.30 pm. These times should be discussed with the traffic police.City council garbage collection should be done also at the above times and weekends only or at night.Heavy trucks above two tons and passenger buses should not be allowed on city roads between 7.30 am to 6.30 pm and should use city by-pass roads.Matatus should not be allowed to carry passengers along these road. There should be matatu stops like bus stops within the city or towns. Those travelling outside towns should take off from the taxi parks without making stopovers within the city. They may pick passengers on each highways like Lugogo by pass for East, Entebbe roundabout at Makindye side, Bwaise.City CouncilCity Council should fence all the islands, roundabouts in the city to avoid motorists and motorcycles crossing them. Road signs and road markings should be put up and regularly maintained. Yellow double lines and Zebra Crossing are not visible. There should be a sign post for Zebra crossing.Road lighting within the city and outside areas like Bakuli, Bwaise almost non existing.There should not be a right turn on Kampala Road leading to Johnstone Street.Traffic PoliceDuring peak hours there are not enough traffic officers. There is no traffic officer at Grand Imperial Hotel and Stanibic Bank roundabout.Motorist treat Kimathi avenue as a one way street everyday between 12.30pm and 2.30 pm.There are also not enough traffic officers at Pentecostal church. These are few examples.Traffic Police or Ministry of Works should be able to give authorised private companies to clamp and to vehicles wrongly parked.These authorised companies licenses should be valid for one year and renewed yearly upon performance and competence.Parking in front of zebra crossings should not be allowed as for example Central Post Office Kampala Road especially by matatus picking up passengers.Traffic police should not treat boda boda drivers with kids gloves, they must comply with traffic regulations as do the motorists. Presently they do not obey the no right turn sign post the Kyagwe road and Wilson road junction at Hotel Equatorial and Greenland Bank building. I am generally concerned about the indiscpline, etiquette, and misuse especially by matatu, boda boda, government vehicles and NGO drivers. Taxis are also permanently parked in green boat slotted places on our roads.Some of the parking slots marked by Green boat should be revisited by the City Council like those at Uganda Electricity Board’s Kampala office on Colin Road and Kimathi Avenue.The loading and offloading of cash by banks and other people must not be done on the main roads for the safety of the public as for example Standard Chartered Bank. They should do it using rear entrances.Police infrastructure by way of accommodation, welfare, manpower needs improvement. One does not expect law enforcers to enforce law and order when the person is not happy in body and mind.Donor countries like Britain should be approached to consider renovations of existing buildings to provide additional accommodation to our police force. I am willing to help and would be glad to discuss this matter with relevant authorities.The writer is an engineer with Consulting Engineers and Management services

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